Citizens for Health (CFH) updated members hourly on the FDA’s raid of the clinic of Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD in Kent, Washington, on May 2. The effort galvanized citizens nationwide, producing so many faxes to the White House that it could not conduct business. CFH’s work resulted in a documentary that won the top prize at the New York Film Festival that year from among 12,000 submissions.

CFH led the successful effort to pass the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Sen. Orrin Hatch commented: “I want to cite the dedicated efforts of Citizens for Health, whose thousands of members have worked tirelessly and unselfishly to make this an informed and successful debate. There is no question in my mind that the work of this citizen army makes today’s victory possible.”

Working with the Organic Trade Association, CFH was able to stop the Department of Agriculture from debasing the definition of “organic.” Over a period of four months, nearly 300,000 communications were directed to the DOA protesting the proposal. The Secretary at the time said it was the largest number of comments the Department has ever received on any proposed regulation.

The Campaign for Better Health was launched with its “Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools” Campaign, a grassroots movement of citizens, community leaders and socially-minded businesses dedicated to nutritious food and protecting children’s health.

CFH became a founding member of the World Health Freedom Assembly, a collection of organizations from around the world sharing a commitment to health freedom.

Largely thanks to several thousand letters sent to legislators through a Citizens for Health action campaign via a consumer-industry coalition supporting its passage, the “AER bill” (The Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act”) cleared through the U.S. House of Representatives at 3:06 am on December 9th, 2006.

CFH members helped stop efforts in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Missouri to ban labeling of dairy containing rBGH/rBST, an artificial growth hormone given to cows to produce more milk. This effort includes CFH successful efforts to block a Monsanto-backed regulation related to GMO labeling.

CFH and its California supporters join the campaign to stop the aerial spraying of pesticides over populated areas. The light brown apple moth and it’s negligible impact on California citrus was used to justify aerial spraying, resulting in avian die-offs and an increase in reports of negative health effects experienced by residents, especially children, the elderly, and those with respiratory challenges.

CFH and its members successfully advocate for improvements to the “Food Safety and Modernization Act” (S. 510). However, the bill that passes still has major flaws, so CFH continues to serve as a watchdog for negative consequences arising from its ongoing implementation.

CFH attends the Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus (DSC) briefing on June 23 to present information about the important role of supplements in the shift from reactive health care to a more preventive and wellness system.

CFH announces a partnership with Voice for HOPE (Healers Of Planet Earth). An expansion of the Campaign for Better Health, Voice for HOPE was created to bring together consumers, practitioners and producers of complementary, alternative and integrative health and wellness modalities to advocate effectively for an expanded role for these approaches in improving personal, family and community health and well-being.

CFH successfully opposes The Dietary Supplement Safety Act, a bill sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.). The bill would have repealed key sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) and would have allowed the FDA to arbitrarily ban any supplement it wished or turn it over to drug companies to be developed as a drug and sold for many times its price as a supplement.

CFH opposes a petition by the Corn Refiners Association to re-name high fructose corn syrup “corn sugar” in an effort to protect their bottom line from consumers looking to eliminate the man-made sweetener from their diets.

CFH joins with Friends of Health to promote the findings and insights of scientists establishing the health implications of body, mind, and spirit integration. The partnership co-sponsored three scientific conferences presenting and reviewing new, frontier-expanding research in the field and highlighting the significant promise it offers as an approach to pubic policy.

CFH launches www.FoodIdentityTheft.com, to alert consumers about packaging that is misleading and deceptive or attempts to conceal questionable ingredients on labels. With important information, links to the latest news stories, videos, and regulatory updates, visitors will be informed about the most flagrant Food Identity Theft culprits.

In May, CFH supporters called and wrote Senate offices over a two-day period in opposition to Amendment No. 2127 to the FDA Safety and Innovation Act (S. 3187) from Senator Dick Durbin [D-IL]. The effort stopped burdensome and unnecessary registration of all safe dietary supplements and prevented supplement labeling submission requirements from moving that much closer to drug-like regulations seen in Canada and Europe today.

The FDA, in agreement with CFH’s position on the Corn Refiners Association’s (CRA) campaign to rename high fructose corn syrup “corn sugar”, denies CRA’s petition, noting “…your petition does not provide sufficient grounds for the agency to authorize ‘corn sugar’ as an alternate common or usual name for HFCS.”

As of Independence Day, CFH and its supporters amass 26,302 signatures for its petition opposing the NDI Guidance.

Thanks to the overwhelming outcry from CFH supporters and allies in the natural health and wellness community, in June the FDA announces it will release a revised NDI Guidance (although industry insiders suggest this will have to wait until after the presidential election).